If there was any lesson that Freedom taught District 11 last weekend, it’s to never doubt the Patriots on the gridiron.

Freedom had their way with Easton in the District 11 6A semifinals, coasting to a 37-7 victory at BASD Stadium and finding themselves in this Friday’s 7 p.m. championship contest against top-seeded Nazareth at Whitehall.

It marks the fourth time in five years that the Patriots (5-1) find themselves playing for the district championship, winning the title in 2018.

Nazareth (6-0), the defending 6A champions, are the only team to knock off Freedom this year, winning 21-7 on October 16.

It’ll be a matchup against two of the best programs in the area this weekend and it’s exactly what head coach Jason Roeder and his team have wanted.

“The goal is to not just contend for them, but win them,” said Roeder about being in the championship game again. “We’re going to do everything in power to get our guys ready to play this weekend.”

Roeder’s message was simple and concise to his team after they thoroughly defeated Easton last week and that was to make sure they prioritized the team this week in lead up to the championship.

With COVID spiking across the country and examples of District 11 teams abandoning their playoff hopes because of the virus, the priority this week, for any schools still alive in the tournament, is to stay safe to keep playing.

The Patriots earned that right after junior Deante Crawford ran for 203 yards and three touchdowns in relief of injured senior running back Matt Russin. The Pates dominated the battle up front on both sides of the ball en route to a 23-0 halftime lead.

Things got even worse for Easton on their opening play of the second half, when Jalen Fletcher picked up a fumble and went 21 yards for a score.

“To come out and execute in all three phases is what we practice every week and it was nice to see that all come together this week,” Roeder said. “We’ve been playing assignment sound football from the beginning and our confidence is growing each week.”

Nazareth hasn’t played since November 9, when they toppled Pleasant Valley 56-10 in their district opener. The Blue Eagles had off last week because of Stroudsburg and Parkland bowing out of the tournament for COVID related reasons, so they should be fresh and primed after watching Freedom run demolition over the Rovers (4-4).

In their first encounter, quarterback Ethan Neidig was getting his first varsity start for the Patriots of the season, as they were held scoreless through 43 minutes of that affair.

Freedom ran for 123 yards in their previous outing and that number will have to increase in order to keep up with the Nazareth offense that saw quarterback Matt Bugbee throw for 226 yards and two scores last time.

However, if Freedom can match its line play from a week ago, busting their own running game and making Bugbee uncomfortable, the Pates have a path towards flipping the script.